The word of the day is windy!

Dublin Travel Blog

We woke up early this morning because we had to check out of the 10 person dorm into the 4 person room at the same hostel. Our only plans for today was to take it easy, seeing that we went hard core for the last couple of days. We planned internet time, then a walk to phoenix park, the biggest park in Europe at more than 1750 acres. Well, when we got packed up, it was raining so the park was out. We walked down grafton street looking for cheap internet cafes but the one we found was sketchy and we decided not to go in. Due to the rain, we walked to the shopping center to get out of the rain, write in our journals, and people watch. The shopping center, St. Stephen's Green shopping center, also had pay to pee toilets, that's irritating.

We settled in at the food court and wrote in our journals. When finished, the rain had stopped so we headed toward phoenix park. We stopped in at the Irish National Museum. We checked out an exhibit on old scientific instruments (my choice), and 200 years of Irish Clothes and Dressing (kate's choice). After, we continued on to Phoenix park, found a nice patch of green grass and settled in to read/write/listen to music/sleep. We both ended up taking two hour naps. It was pretty sunny, and I ended up with 1/2 my face being sunburned. After the nap, we saw the Wellington Monument in the center of Phoenix park and walked back to Temple Bar. We stopped at Temple Bar square and watched an Irish guy in short shorts do aerobics and three break dancers, and an old drunk in a fur coat and hat. Walked back to the hostel, actually put our bags in our room, and went in search of dinner. We ate at O'sheas and had a beer. This ended up being the first stop on our self inflicted pub crawl. I had the beef burger, which didn't come on a bun like i expected. Next pub stop was Bad Bob's. Cheesy, but fun to sit at the bar and drink pints of Erdinger (never had it before). After Bad Bob's we walked over to the Stag's Head, one of the top 10 pubs in Dublin. We both had a pint of Murphy's. Apparently it's like a bad Guiness. After the Stag's Head, we walked to John Kehoes, another top 10. We had pints of Bulmers (like Woodchuck, but not as good). We ended up talking to the doorman who told us about the smallest pub in Dublin. We walked there next, it's called The Dawson Lounge and it's on Dawson street, and it is very small, intimate. You can't stretch your arms without punching the guy next to you, but at the same time only about 30 people can fit inside. We each has a 1/2 pint of Heiniken. They didn't have much of a beer selection, not much room. Afterwards, we walked about a block or so to Neary's, another top 10. It was also tiny and very quant. We had a seat and a 1/2 pint of Carlsberg. After Neary's, we decided to head back to the hostel at about 12:00. We showered, called our loved ones (only Kate's dad picked up), and went to bed. It was a relaxing day, but our self inflicted pub crawl was very fun. I'm ready to leave Ireland, it's cold and windy- rachel